August 12, 2005

As a parent I have to admit that there are times when all the efforts one makes to set rules or habits for my son seem to run up against a brick wall. A tiny brick wall maybe, say 95 cm high, but an incredibly stubborn one. And then, out of the blue, suddenly you not only see a result, but you notice how your kid has become even a greater stickler than yourself and start complaining. Call that gratitude.

Being the food obsessed conscious person that I am, one of my greatest fears would be to see my son turn into a soda guzzling, McDo Hamburger chomping teenager I often see around. So you bet I wasn't too happy when a few month's ago my son Saami started showing a love for those ignoble little things that are called fish fingers. OK, he often left the foul breading on the plate, but still, if he wanted fish he'd get some real fish. Off we went with trouts, char, mackerel and more. Saami loved looking at the fishes, especially when I opened their mouths and showed him the teeth and tongue to scare him. Not that it made much of a difference when it came on the plate: some got eaten, some less, but without too much enthusiasm. Fish fingers seemed to have won.

Until a few days ago. Home late and with little inspiration about what to cook I looked in the freezer and found two forgotten fish fingers. Hey kid, what about those? I wish you could have seen the look of disgust on his face. Luckily his answer was just as significant: "Dad, I don't want any fish fingers. I want a fish that tastes good." (actually in German: "Papa, ich will keine Fischstäbchen. Ich will ein lecker Fisch.") The next day he got a large fresh trout, simply pan fried, and happily ate most of it in the blink of an eye. Guess I won't be disowning my son just yet.

Now, if I could only get him to see that dark Valrhona chocolate is better than Smarties I'd be a really happy dad...

Comments

Alberto - that is a great story. How wonderful that you are helping your son to develop a palate. So many kids I know only get fish fingers, and chicken fingers, and mac cheese. It's really atrocious "kids meals" have taken over in the US.

Gia, thanks but that's actually my son's German and there's even a mistake in there :-). My German is not that bad but not half as good as my English unfortunately. And you just reminded me that I should post a new "About me" page. I promise I'll do so soon, so stay tuned.

Elise, I wish my reasons were as noble as the one you list. It would make me definitely look good, wouldn't it? Unfortunately I fear that it's more my food snobbishness than health issues (not that I ignore those, but still) that's influencing my decisions when it comes to food choices.

Karen, I'll trust your opinion on Saami's DNA and try to worry a bit less ;-)

I grew up in Switzerland, I was surrounded by wonderful chocolate and - yes!- I loved Mars bars when I was 13. Only with about 18 I detected my deep love for dark chocolate. Gladly, my parents gave me a Mars here and then and never tried to convince me that the "best" chocolate is the best chocolate for me. I guess I became persuaded by their faces when they ate good food.

Kids need soo much time to develop tastes and likes and dislikes. "Wu wei" say the Chinese (don't act). If it's in his genes - all you need to do is to eat and cook what you like (and carefully cook what he likes) and to wait patiently.

Nice to see a parallel between Chinese philosophy and Italian sayings! You're absolutely right and sure enough we try not to force our son but rather use the "look on our faces" method a lot. The least I can say is that it stimulates Saami's curiosity a lot.